Carmen Gertrudes

Carmen has a very charismatic attitude; she lives in the city of Camaná which is characterized by its hot climate, its beautiful beaches and because its main crop is rice. Carmen has a 23-year-old son; she’s already a grandmother and one of her pastimes is to go out walking with her grandson who she adores because he’s very affectionate. Like all good Peruvians, Carmen enjoys our cuisine very much but her favorite dish is fried fish. She only studied up to third year of secondary school because her parents lacked sufficient resources.

Carmen works at her business selling “salchipapas” (fried potatoes served with hotdogs and sauces), “salchipollo” (fried potatoes served with fried chicken and sauces) and chicken soup. She spends about 8 hours daily at her work and can serve up to 40 customers. She believes that she does well in her business because she’s very charismatic, she gives good customer service and above all because work for her is a joy and she likes to work.

Carmen is grateful to Kiva lenders because with the support they’ve given her she’ll be able to buy more merchandise for the business like soft-drinks because when she has to buy this type of product in small amounts it’s more expensive. This improvement will allow her to earn more income and to have more products for her customers so she can continue saving up to make her dream come true: “To have a larger business.”

Additional Information

About Caja Rural Señor de Luren

Caja Rural Señor de Luren is a microfinance institution based in Ica in southern Peru that primarily promotes the development of the country’s agricultural sector through lending. Today, it also offers credit for consumers, microenterprises and housing improvements, and has expanded its financial services to promote micro-savings and provide micro-insurance. This institution has been instrumental in helping borrowers recover from the devastating earthquake in the Ica region in 2007, and works with Peru’s National Bank to reach some of the poorest and most remote microfinance clients in the country.